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None. |
Kevin McKinlay (40) |
Appearances & Goals To Date
Starting Lineup
| Youngest Player: | Aaron Doran (19 years 273 days) |
| Oldest Player: | Adam Rooney (2012 years 190 days) |
| Average Player Age: | 25 years 31 days |
| Domestic Players: | 10 (90.91 % of starting eleven) |
Matchday Squad
| Youngest Player: | Aaron Doran (19 years 273 days) |
| Oldest Player: | Chris Innes (2012 years 190 days) |
| Average Player Age: | 26 years 66 days |
| Domestic Players: | 15 (93.75 % of matchday squad) |
First Team Debuts
Milestones
Caley Thistle eased into the Quarter Finals of the Active Nations Scottish Cup with a 5-1 victory over Greenock Morton.
Adam Rooney and Richie Foran got two apiece and Chris Hogg scored a debut goal after his recent arrival from Hibs.
Aaron Doran, on loan from Blackburn was very impressive in his first start although Alex MacDonald, on loan from Burnley only had 8 minutes to make an impression, coming on for Adam Rooney near the end.
Well done Tommy and his squad for getting the pitch ready despite the deluge thrown at us in the last 48 hours. The pitch inspection at eight o'clock this morning showed that all the effort had been worthwhile as the nod was given for the game to go ahead. Not long after the United game was binned, this one was welcomed by all, especially the travelling fans who would endure a nine hour return trip and cup thumping into the bargain.........long train home then?
Inverness outclassed luckless Morton with a five goal salvo, which in all honesty could have been much more. Rooney fed Foran, Foran fed Rooney, Doran fed Hogg, Rooney shouldered the ball home and Foran finished with a flourish. Lyle scored a neat consolation for the Ton and Rooney had squandered the chance of the *millennium after Cox and Proc had set him up inside the six yard box, only for Adam to get himself in a fankle and stumble over the ball when it looked easier for yer granny to score. Still 5-1 at home against a battling first division side is no mean feat. Great to put some of the grim SPL games behind us and score at will. Will was maybe not so happy, but hey. This performance will no doubt give the home fans some confidence ahead of the push for the promised land, the SPL top six.
No failures in the home team today, with some standout performances. Hogg may have been awarded the sponsors man of the match, but the one that caught most spectators eye was Irishman Aaron Doran, who teased the Morton defence every time he was on the ball, and was as tenacious as Ian Black in the tackle. Fantastic Scottish Cup debut by the young Irishman and he looks to have a bright future in the SPL if this performance is anything to go by. He appears to have everything that the fans were looking for, able to beat his man, bit of pace, and can produce a great Barry Robson like cross, he'll do for me.
Richie Foran also looked to have recharged his batteries and was up for the game, a couple of goals and some neat interplay opened the visitors time after time. And, with Adam Rooney looking sharp...........erm, until his *millenium miss then we were looking impressive. We also had a stranglehold on the midfield and with Rossco marshalling the defence we were never going to give much away.
Good away support were vocal enough early on, and hopefully enjoyed their away day as much as we used to when being the underdogs, a tag that sits more comfortably with us. However, there appeared to be a greater gulf between the two sides today than there was in last seasons first division. Have Morton gone backwards or have we, as Butcher proclaimed aquired our best squad ever?
The prize for the winners of the game was revealed a day later after the Old Firm battled out a draw in a high octane thriller with a replay being required to settle that one. The victors will play Inverness in the Highlands.
Match report written by tm4tj
